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Brazil's Luiz Felipe Scolari promises to leave the position of head coach of the Portuguese national team after the 2008 European Championship.
The 58-year-old Brazilian, known as "Big Phil," told the sports newspaper "Record" that his decision to step down is logical. He believes that spending 6 years in any team would be a sufficient amount of time for a coach.
"It is logical and natural for me to step down after the 2008 European Championship, as my contract ends exactly then. The job of a coach is limited to 5 or 6 years," the strategist said on Tuesday, who led the Brazilian national team to victory in the 2002 World Cup.
Such a statement from L.F. Scolari could attract the interest of Jose Mourinho, the manager of London's Chelsea club. The latter has said that before stepping down, he would like to take over the national team coaching position.
In the interview, the strategist also revealed that in 2004 he received an offer from the team "Benfica," and during the World Cup, he was offered to replace the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson as the head coach of the English national team.
"The English offered me to sign a contract during the championship, and I would have started working right after the championship. In any case, I would have betrayed the Portuguese in that way," said the strategist.
"Simply put, it's impossible. No one can coach one team and then simply move on to another. It was a difficult choice, but I realized that I couldn't accept it," explained L.F. Scolari.
L.F. Scolari said he doesn't know what he will do when he leaves the Portuguese national team, but added that he wants to become a club coach. In 2004, the Brazilian led the Portuguese national team to the European Championship final, and in this year's World Cup, his team reached the semi-finals - the first time in the last 40 years.
